The Fatal Kingdom, while showing promise, generally lacks any redeeming quality that would make the player actually want to finish the short demo. However, there are still certain points that stand out as unique and at least show that ultimate3 and his brother have the ability to produce something greater.

Graphics

Being a short demo, the game only has two locations: The Airship and the Forest. The forest is easily the largest map, yet there are only about... 6 tiles used over again throughout. What disappointed me was not so much that the authors thought; hey itís a forest so we will use trees, but that they used the same tree OVER and OVER. Not only that, but the maps were obviously tiled and there is nothing I hate more than the "grid" on maps.

The airship had some animating maptiles and I really appreciated the large view of the airship used once you get off. I really enjoy seeing authors shy away from small scale ships and such.

Battle graphics were mediocre at best and consisted of only one regular enemy in the forest that has a palette change occasionally. This wouldn't have been such an issue if the enemy wasn't comprised of only 3 or 4 colors. Seriously folks, shading does wonders for your battle graphics and it can be as simple as taking a darker or lighter shade around the edges. There was a boss later that was ok, but it was supposed to be a swamp monster and I could have sworn it was a cucumber.

Storyline

Let me preface this with the knowledge that I NEED A STORY LINE TO ENJOY A GAME. Kingdom didn't have the problem of not HAVING a storyline, but more like I had no idea what was going on. I started the demo in a room with boxes all around with the command to get out of this tiny hole by pushing the boxes. The reason I am in this hole is beyond me, but what happens next baffles the mind even more.

By simply walking onto the deck of the airship I am greeted by a NPC that is supposedly my friend who assumes that I have a clue as to what is going on. From what I pieced together I am to break into a castle or something after finding my friend. It would have been helpful if the situation had been explained in detail beforehand, but no such luck.

The rest of the story consists of walking through the forest, and getting into a fight for no reason with this swamp monster that you can't even see on screen but is supposedly coming right at you. The demo ends shortly after that with you fighting some soldiers.

Gameplay

The gameplay was standard fare of walking through a forest with random battles (I can't tell you how many times I've been in that scenario) and killing innocent little birds.

Battle

Battles were spacebar mashers (or in my case, Enter mashers). The characters start the game off with roughly 150 HP and the enemies generally take only about 7. For those of you that hate math, that means that the enemies are far too easy and a levelup will usually cure you fully before even a fraction of your HP is lost. This, coupled with the fact that the special skills each character has take the same amount of life as regular attacks, shows that the battles weren't a main priority of the game making process.

Map Design

Ah map design... my dearest friend. Let it be known from this point on that a bland forest map with multiple paths or forks in the road is NOT considered good map design. At least the airship kept me slightly interested.

The multiple forks in the forest led to some treasure chest but their contest were useless curing items. Note to the author for future games: the player needs to want what is in the chest, or else making the trek to the chest is wasted and anger then grows inside their very heart until it consumes them.

Finally, there was a final fork before you arrive at the boss in which one direction leads to the boss and the other to a save. This is a poor idea. Letís pretend that the boss can actually kill me... so I go hmm, which path should I take? Not know that one path could lead to my death and I would be forced to start the game again. I know it is tempting to cram as many useless paths as possible into a small map, but letís not get crazy here and ruin a game because someone is too frustrated to keep playing.

Balance

Balance can only refer to the battles in this case, and sadly there isn't much balance at all. Luckily, the odds are shifted in your favor instead of the other way around.

Music

The first time I played through my music was off, but I have to admit that the second time the music actually did add a little to the experience. It was all OHR default music though, so nothing truly spectacular.

Enjoyment

I found that I wasn't ever really bored, which is a major plus; however, "No OHR game collection is complete without this demo" isn't necessarily an accurate statement. Being a game that will never be finished, I can't honestly say that it would be worth the while for anyone to bother with this one. Some plotscripting would have been nice as well.

Final Blows

The Kittaka brothers have made a mediocre experience at best. However, I get the feeling that future projects will fare much better just from little touches I've seen in this demo. Good luck to you all in any new endeavors and keep making giant airship maps. Ugh, my first review... head... hurting...

My dear friend, the forest... OF DEATH.

Final Scores

Graphics: 5.5/10.0

Average, but points deducted for the numbing battle graphics. Then those points added again for the airship.

Storyline: 3/10.0

Confusing at best, a tangled mess does not a good storyline make.

Gameplay: 3/10.0

If spacebar mashing is your cup of tea, then have at it!

Music: 2.5/10.0

Helped a small bit, but overall it couldn't save the whole.

Enjoyment: 2.5/10.0

I enjoyed it for the first 2-3 minutes. After that point I played to finish, not to enjoy.

Overall Grade:
D

Final Thoughts

For the few unique touches, there are too many flaws to warrant a download.